The Witch and Claymore
by QueenPrisme
Summary: After being badly abused by their father, Sissel and Britte vow to never be beaten again. Cover Image by Grzegorz Rutkowski
1. Whip

**QueenPrisme**

**The Witch and Claymore**

Authors note.

In the game Skyrim you can come across a little girl named Sissel in Rorikstead. Her father and her slightly older twin sister Britte abuse her, though I believe that Britte is abused by her father as well and takes it out on her little sister. In the game, your character can meet her and decide to kill her father, Lemkil, and if you have the Hearthfire expansion you can later adopt her at the orphanage in Riften if you kill the original caretaker of course.

I'm going to recreate her story and give her the adventure that she's always wanted. Also, there is going to be some violent and graphic scenes in this story, currently the rating is** 16 and older** but that may change later. **This story could trigger memories of abuse and is very emotional.**

I also want to point out that I am a full-time college student, and I part-time worker so as of right now there is not a posting scheduled for this story, in fact, I only started writing it because I miss fanfiction and want to get creative again. I have been writing stories since I was in middle school though I haven't written anything for a few years. Regardless, I'm excited to get back into writing and hope that you enjoy my story. Thank you.

* * *

Chapter one: _Whip_

I'm hiding under me and my sister's bed, my heart is pounding, and my finger hurts from biting into it. I can see my sister, Britte, across the room in a ball on the floor holding her stomach and crying.

"Sissel," I hear my dad's drunken slur call my name as he slams his leather belt down on my sister, it wraps around her hip and her scream fills the room. "Where is the little bitch?" Britte is screaming and balling uncontrollably, most of her face is swollen. I want to run out from under the bed and help her. I want to save her. I want to kill him. I'm too afraid to move. I bite harder down onto my finger, tears rush down my cheeks and blood drips down my hand from my finger. Forgive me, Britte.

"You really are worthless Sissel! You'd let your sister take the beating for you?" Britte's scream fills the room before the belt even touches her, "What good are you?" _Whip!_ "I wish you'd never been born!" _Whip!_ "You took my wife from me!" _Whip!_ I can't tell if he is talking to me or to my sister or to both of us. "Fucking useless!" he shouts and storms out the front door, slamming it shut.

I'm too afraid to move, but I must get to her. I reach a shaking hand out from under the bed. I can see a dark stain spreading over her dress. "Britte," I whisper and crawl out from under the bed. I stay low to the ground and carefully step over the creaky floorboards, with each step the prayers in my head to Talos grow louder.

_What if he comes back inside? _I fight through my fear as inch past the front door and across the room. She is shaking, her eyes are swollen shut, "Britte." It's hard to look at her bruised face so I look down, but I see blood and pee soaking through her clothes. My heart is pounding. _Is she going to… to live? How bad are the bruises everywhere else?_

"Shishel," she tries to say my name, through her purple lips.

"I'm here," I quickly respond. I reach my thin arms under her and try to lift her, "I have to get you out of here." She immediately whimpers in pain, I frown and pull my arms out from under her, "You're too heavy for me to lift you, I have to go get help… I'll be right back." She doesn't respond.

I slowly stand and turn towards the door, but the moment I see it fear rushes through me. _What if he is behind the door? What if he is waiting for me to come out? _I bite my lip as I approach the door. It looks so big. I wrap my little hand around the latch and hold my breath as I pull it open.

Darkness.

I slowly peek my head out of the door and quickly look at both sides of the house. He isn't there, a wave of relief washes over me, and I close the door as quietly as I can before I sprint down the stairs and run through the front yard to the road.

_I must get Jouane, he will know what to do._ I round the fenced corner and run as fast as I can down the street, Jouane is only a few houses down but every step feels like a mile. I am terrified to look behind me. _What if my father saw me leave and is running after me?_ Part of me doesn't want to stop running, part of me doesn't want to get help, only to hide. I feel so ashamed of that part of me, Britte is my sister.

Finally, I made it to Jouane's house. I dash up to the door and throw my small body up against it, I pound my fists on the wood furiously and try to force the door open, "Jouane! Jouane! Help!"

Jouane flings the door open, his wrinkly face is twisted with worry, "What's wrong?" his voice is calm, and I rush into his arms, "It's Britte, I think she's dead!" I choke out the words and feel my throat closing in fear and tears burning my cheeks as I grip his tunic.

His eyes are wide with shock and he picks me up in his tanned arms. It seems like just a moment before he's kicking the front door into our house and rushing over to Britte. He kneels beside my twin, she looks even worse than she did when I left, he presses his fingers into her neck.

"What happened to her?" he presses and starts to hover his hands over her face and chest.

"My..." I can barely breathe, and my throat feels swollen shut, I take a deep breath and force out the word, "Dad" I fall to my knees and start sobbing.

He doesn't say a word in response. His hands start to glow a bright golden color, the light wraps around her body, Jouane's face tenses in concentration as the light weaves itself around her and into her body. The light soon fades and then he takes a deep breath and the light slowly fades back in, wrapping around her once again and entering her body.

I look over him and can see her swollen face start to subside, the bruises on her start to fade and the cuts in her skin start to almost… sew together. The blood was still there and so was the pee. But as I watched her injuries fade, I knew she was going to live, I kneeled beside her and leaned over and gave her the longest hug as Jouane's golden medicine faded out yet again.

As I rose up to look at her, I expected her eyes to open and for her to speak to me, but there was nothing. She didn't open her eyes, let alone speak. I didn't even notice Jouane stand up as I shook my sisters' shoulders, "I know it's hard Sissel, but she needs her rest," he said.

I looked up at him confused, "Why isn't she speaking?"

"She might be in a coma," Jouane said, as he placed his hand on my shoulder, "But right now we need to get your sister help, so I need you to be strong and stand up. Can you do that for me?"

* * *

Thank you very much for reading. Chapter 2 will be out soon. Please don't forget to leave a comment and let me know what you think of the story so far.


	2. The Journey

I simply couldn't believe how Britte was lying on the floor, her bruising had faded and her scratches were mended, but she wouldn't open her eyes.

I sat down beside her and took her hand into mine, Jouane had left to get the wagon and what was supposed to be a few minutes felt like an hour.

I was tempted to shake her and shout for her to wake up but Jouane had advised I not do such things, so instead I spoke softly and squeezed her hand.

Thinking back on the day I don't think either one of us did anything deserving of a beating, but sometimes when Pa has too many ales he becomes sad and then cruel. He blames us for the loss of his wife, our mother. She died shortly after giving birth to us.

To be honest dad wasn't always bad, in fact I don't think he ever laid a finger on either of us until we turned around eight. I'll never forget that day.

Britte and I were in the garden plucking vegetables and before we knew it we had wondered off to the flower field and left the basket of cabbages on the ground. It was somewhat late in the evening and Pa had been at the Frostfruit inn for quiet a while. When he came back he looked a mess, even his tunic was on backwards, and smelled of ale. As he walked through the yard he stumbled right through the basket of cabbages, falling and smashing most of them. Before I knew it he was in a rage. The yelling turned into hitting and eventually the hitting turned into sobs. Eventually, he fell into a drunken slumber and no more than five minutes passed before he started uttering a name in his sleep, "Sera." It didn't take Britte and I long to realize it was our mothers name.

Back then the beatings weren't as bad as they are now. I wish I could go back to the belt instead of the kicking now. I pray to the nine divines everyday for him to become well but he never has, and today marks the worst beating he's ever given. And I... I hid under the bed like a coward.

Maybe it's my fault after all. Maybe if Britte and I hadn't sneaked into the Frostfruit Inn to see that strange man earlier today none of this would have happened.

Suddenly, the door crept open and Jouane stepped into the room. I was delighted to see him and I jumped up letting go of my sisters hand.

"Sissel, go and hide in the back of the wagon I'll bring your sister," he motioned me towards the door and I did as I nodded and did as I was told.

Moments after I had gotten into the back of the wagon and crawled into it, Jouane had appeared with my limp sister and laid her down beside me. Surprisingly, there was a brown bear hide on the bottom and added some much needed comfort to the wooden planks.

"I want you to lay there with your sister and try to get some rest... by the way, are you okay Sissel?"

"Oh, yes Sir, Pa couldn't find me so he didn't get a chance to lay even a finger on me," I smiled weakly, feeling happy but also guilty that I had not been hit.

"That's good, everything will be better in the morning. So you just relax and take care to get a good nights rest underneath the stars," he said it gently and throw a wool blanket over both of us before he moved around to the front of the wagon.

Soon enough the wagon was making it's way down the dirt paved road in Rorikstead. I wasn't sure where we were going but anywhere was better than here.

I took my sisters hand back in mine and squeezed it as I starred up at the stars. I could only imagine what her response would be if she were awake to watch the clouds change shape and too see the stars dance as we moved along. The horses were going pretty slowly, but the gentle rumble beneath me was comforting and before I knew it I had drifted off to sleep.

_It was dark when we both saw the strange man enter the Frostfruit Inn. Britte ran ahead of me and pulled open the door to the tavern. She was just as curious as I to meet a traveler. Maybe he could tell us some stories from his adventures. All I knew for sure was that was one big sword on his hip and even bigger shield on his back._

_Britte and I ran into the building, the man was even bigger up close, he towered over us as he stood at the front talking to the inn keeper._

_He asked for rumors about the area, but before we even got up close enough to talk to him we saw Pa. _

_We heard him too._

_...Them too. _

_...Her too._

_They were in a room on the left, there wasn't a door. She was bent over and her breasts were shaking like crazy. Pa had a fist full of her hair and was grunting like a pig. I felt my heart stop, as his gaze met mine. I could see the fury in his eyes. _

_I ran._

_Britte was none the wiser, stuck admiring the strange man. I didn't even think to warn her. _

_I heard him behind me, it sounded like a demon had possessed his voice. I bet Britte didn't even see the first blow coming._

I woke with a start, my eyes were wet with tears. The sun was peaking out on the horizon, and the wagon was still moving along at the same pace it had been when I had fallen asleep. Britte was still laying the same position she was when Jouane laid her down in the wagon.

I sat up in the back of the wagon and turned around. A big walled city was off in the distance. I don't think Jouane had noticed that I had awoken, "Morning," I mumbled.

"Morning lassy," he said and passed me a water pouch. I took a long drink before handing it back to him and climbing up front to sit beside him.

"Where are we?" I said looking around. There were several farms, and I could make out a stable and a mill of some sort.

"We're at Whiterun of course," he said it matter of factly, as if I should know where we were.

"Sorry, I've never been outside of Rorikstead," I said while I subconsciously grabbed my growling stomach.

"Oh, I see. Well, I think you're going to have fun here. There are several girls and boys around your age to play with while I get your sister healed," He said sweetly as he looked down at me, "Don't worry, I'll get you some food just as soon as we get there."

"I can't wait... how long do you think it will be?" I said looking down at his two beautiful brown horses.

"Oh, can't be more than a matter of minutes now," he said as he smiled down at me.


End file.
